Dilley, Texas - Congressman Joaquin Castro said Wednesday that a five-year-old boy caged with his father in Texas by federal immigration agents was "depressed and sad."

ICE agents detained Liam Conejo Ramos and his father, Adrian Conejo Arias, who are asylum seekers from Ecuador, on January 20 in Minnesota.

Images of the pre-schooler wearing a blue bunny hat and backpack being held by officers who were seeking to arrest his father sparked international outrage

Local school officials said agents used the boy as bait to draw his dad out of his home.

Rep. Castro, a Democrat, said Wednesday he spent about 30 minutes with Liam and his father in the detention facility in Dilley, Texas.

"His dad said that he hasn't been himself, that he's been sleeping a lot because he's been depressed and sad," Castro, who promised to return for a second visit, said in a video posted to X.

"I am concerned about his mental state," Castro said, adding that he had spent about three and a half hours at the facility speaking with parents and families.

"There are no criminals in Dilley," he said in his video. "Donald Trump said this was about arresting illegal criminal aliens – that's his language. There isn't a single criminal over there."

A federal judge in Texas temporarily blocked the deportation of Liam and his father this week, saying that the federal government could not move the pair out of the court's jurisdiction while they challenge their detention.

"I told everybody very clearly that the country is against what's going on, that Liam needs to be released, that the country demands his release and that no child that's five years old should be in detention like that," Castro said of his visit.

The boy's family was "legally allowed to come into the United States because they had applied for asylum" through a proper pathway, he added.

About 100 people were attacked with tear gas by Texas state police as they protested outside the Dilley facility on Wednesday.